As Gaza rebuilds and resists occupation, the question remains: Can the Palestinian Authority overcome popular resistance?
Given the successful implementation of a Gaza-Israel ceasefire, the Palestinian Authority (PA) seeks to play a greater role in the besieged coastal enclave but faces the reality that its West Bank style of rule may prove impossible. Therefore, the Ramallah-based PA seeks to spin the post-war narrative against Palestinian resistance.
Throughout the course of the 15-month-long genocide in the Gaza Strip, various ideas have been floated by the Israelis, US, Palestinian political parties, and a series of Arab States, regarding post-war rule in the besieged coastal territory. The most serious discussions are now taking place over the formation of a technocratic administrative body in Gaza.
Late last year, a series of meetings were held to decide upon a shared administrative role in Gaza between Hamas and their Palestinian Authority counterparts. However, as of the reporting emerging from the Arabic-language media, specifically Al-Arabi al-Jadeed, known for its close PA sources, there is considerable opposition from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to any Hamas rule.
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In fact, the narrative that is being pushed by the Ramallah-based authority is that Hamas and the other Palestinian movements who participated in Operation al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, are responsible for the devastating war in the Gaza Strip. When PA officials do comment on Israeli culpability, they also push the notion of civilian victimhood alone and refuse to recognize Palestinian resistance.
The disputes between the PA and Hamas over this issue have now created a reality where the top intermediary that seeks to help build a new civil administration, Egypt, has been forced to look into alternative options that don’t include the Palestinian Authority. This has left space for the Israelis to suggest an administration that is controlled by Arab Gulf States like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The Palestinian Authority Gaza Dilemma
While Israel’s two primary stated goals of its war against the Gaza Strip were to achieve the total dismantlement of Hamas and return of their captives by force, they have so far failed on both accounts. Yet, it was clear from the beginning of the Israeli offensive that the strategy was not actually about achieving military objectives and instead was total annihilation; erasing most of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, ethnically cleansing its people, and eliminating a portion of the population altogether.
As the genocide progressed, there was no clear military strategies being implemented beyond the broader goal of total annihilation. Even the fighting on the ground was severely limited, as Israeli soldiers rarely actually engaged Palestinian resistance fighters face-to-face, instead opting to hide inside heavily armored military vehicles and in fortified areas.
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During this time, when the Israeli army would raid areas and specifically target civilian infrastructure such as homes and hospitals, varying plots for buffer zones, annexation, and settlement expansion were discussed. In the end, none of these ended up going to plan, the only consistent theme that was observed unfolding time and time again was the destruction of civilian infrastructure, often the end goal of each incursion into the areas the army would raid was to render a key hospital non-functional.
So how does this tie in to the Palestinian Authority? Well, the PA seeks to rule over the Gaza Strip, which would have been an easier task given an Israeli military victory. However, Hamas still exists and continues to enjoy popular support amongst the population of the Gaza Strip, especially as many workers from the civil administration and security apparatus that formerly governed Gaza are affiliated with the Palestinian movement. This means completely removing Hamas from the equation is nearly impossible.
The reality on the ground is that not only Hamas, but much more importantly, the people, have survived the course of the Israeli genocide and given a ceasefire’s success, will have repelled plots for Israeli occupation inside Gaza and settlement construction. Therefore the Palestinian Authority, which opposes armed struggle, must prove its model viable.
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Recently, in a bid to prove its reliability to the US and Israel, legitimacy as a governing body, and power as a security force, the PA launched an armed crackdown on anti-occupation armed groups operating out of the Jenin Refugee Camp. Yet, even in this case, they have been fighting there for over a month and made little process.
In fact, more PA security force officers have died – mainly from their own mistakes in handling explosives and weaponry – than fighters belonging to the anti-occupation armed groups, in the Jenin Refugee Camp. All the PA has to show for its military operation is the murder of unarmed civilians, including a female journalist and children, in addition to the severing of water and electricity to the beleaguered refugee camp.
While the PA had initially requested a list of weapons, vehicles and equipment from the United States in order to help them complete their crackdown in Jenin, Israel decided to block the flow of military aid and instead launched their own series of raids in the surrounding areas of Jenin. This appears to prove Israel’s lack of confidence in the PA security forces to successfully carry out their pro-Israeli duties under the ‘Security Coordination’ agreement between both sides.
If Israel and likely the US by extension, does not see the PA as capable of bringing the situation in the Jenin Refugee Camp under its control, it is unlikely they consider it capable of handling the predicament they would face in the Gaza Strip. Not only are the people in Gaza rather united in their stances and maintain good relations with Hamas-aligned figures there, but if a PA force from the West Bank were to be injected into the territory, it is unlikely they could impose their rule.
Therefore, the narrative that Hamas is responsible for Israel’s genocide is being promoted heavily by the Palestinian Authority. This works to achieve two goals: The first is to suggest that armed resistance is futile to Gaza’s people and the second is to sufficiently scare the population of the West Bank into submission.
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So far, the Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank have been held back from erupting into an Intifada (uprising), while the anti-occupation armed groups that have formed in the north of the territory have been limited in size and effectiveness. This comes down to a variety of factors, one of which is the Palestinian Authority’s propaganda.
In the event that the PA were to compromise on its hardline stance against any Hamas involvement in governing post-war Gaza, this would open to door for collaboration and perhaps even a defacto-PA rule. In 2014, Hamas and the PA were on the verge of forming a unity government, and, in 2017, an agreement was temporarily struck between both parties to allow for the Palestinian Authority to take over the civil administration in Gaza. Both of these efforts were thwarted however, the first due to Israel’s 51-day war in 2014 and the second due to Israeli-US pressure that saw the agreements collapse.
If the PA is going to play any role in Gaza, the challenge will be striking a balance that will not bring considerable opposition from Israel and the United States, while also navigating a complex landscape in which Hamas will be present. Yet, even in the event that such a development occurs, the Israelis are actively eyeing a de-jure annexation of the West Bank that could lead to the PA’s collapse.
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The importance of the Palestinian Authority in a post-war Gaza administration lies in its international legitimacy, as it represents the State of Palestine at the United Nations and global institutions. Yet, amongst Palestinians, it lacks that same legitimacy. On the other hand, Hamas has been isolated internationally, which poses a challenge to its ability to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip, but enjoys more support from the Palestinian people than any other political party.
This could be a make-or-break moment for the Palestinian Authority, as its role in the West Bank is threatened and in the event that Gaza begins rebuilding without it, its arguments about a strategy to achieve stability will crumble. If the Gaza Strip emerges without Israeli forces occupying it internally and free of settlements, while the West Bank undergoes a process of annexation and continued ethnic cleansing, the PA will face inevitable collapse or must transform into a liberation movement.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
